DOLE reports continuing drop in labor strikes in RP

MANILA, Philippines – Amid the global financial crisis, Filipino workers appear to be shying away from any work stoppage that could deprive them of their daily income.

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) recently reported a continuing drop in the number of workers nationwide who opt to go on strike due to labor disputes.

Preliminary data from DOLE’s National Conciliation and Mediation Board (NCMB) showed a sharp 35 percent decline in the number of notices of strike filed by workers nationwide.

In the first four months of 2009, NCMB posted fewer notices of strike compared to the same period last year.

NCMB previously reported a 46 percent decline in notices of strike in the first two months of the year.

A total of 17,736 workers from 91 companies filed notices of strike from January 1 to April 30.

NCMB recorded a total of 139 notices of strike involving 25,822 workers nationwide during the same period last year.

NCMB officials also reported that more than half of the notices of strike have already been settled.

The same NCMB data also showed that only one of the notices of strike turned into an actual strike, which affected the employment of 700 workers.

In the first two months of 2008, NCMB posted three actual strikes, involving 810 workers.

NCMB data also showed that cases of preventive mediation went down from 189 last year to 167 this year, but the number of affected workers rose from 43,076 to 49,555.

DOLE has been urging disputing laborers and managements to thresh out differences by engaging in closer dialogue and collaborative undertakings to cushion the impact of the current financial crisis, particularly at the plant level. 

More OFWs hired

Meantime, the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) yesterday maintained that more Filipino workers were hired abroad despite the global financial crisis.

Contrary to the claim of the local recruitment industry, POEA said a total of 1,236,013 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) were deployed in various countries in 2008.

“The figure represents a 14.7 percent increase compared to 2007 data,” POEA said in a statement sent to The STAR.

POEA further reported that the number of new hires among land-based workers went up by 20.3 percent to 376,973, with Middle East remaining the top destination.

According to the POEA, the number of newly hired Filipino workers in 2008 increased by 33.9 percent.

POEA said that among Middle East countries, Saudi Arabia posted 25.4 percent growth in the number of new hires; United Arab Emirates, 71.5 percent; Qatar, 46.5 percent; and Oman, 39.7 percent.

The local recruitment industry earlier reported that fewer OFWs were hired and that the industry is now experiencing a continuing drop in deployment.

In 2008, recruitment leaders said the number of new hires went down by almost 30 percent.

But POEA said the data released by the local recruitment industry was still preliminary and unofficial.

“OFW deployment figures for 2008 require thorough finalization and disaggregation,” POEA said while stressing that it was not meant to mislead the recruitment industry.

In a related development, the Philippine Nursing Association (PNA) yesterday reported that New Zealand remains open to Filipino nurses even as it adopted stricter measures on the hiring of foreign workers.

PNA president Teresita Barcelo said the Nursing Council of New Zealand assured them that Filipino nurses are welcome to work there.

Barcelo said Nursing Council executives who visited the country recently noted that Filipinos comprise the second largest number of foreign nurses in New Zealand.

About 200 Filipino nurses enter New Zealand annually and most of them find work in homes for elderly care and some in remote areas.

The nursing council encourages direct hiring rather than coursing the application through recruitment agencies. –Mayen Jaymalin, Philippine Star